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Soccer Picks: Zenit St. Petersburg vs. FC Porto

Champions League betting serves up the clash between Zenit St. Petersburg and FC Porto on match day 4, two sides mired in the battle for second spot in Group G. Join us as we breakdown this matchup complete with soccer odds and picks.

Zenit defied the
odds to become the first Russian outfit to win at FC Porto when they defeated
their 10-man Portuguese counterparts 1-0, thanks to Aleksandr Kerzhakov’s late
goal. In spite of the historic result, odds
makers are being cautious with the betting landscape for the reverse leg.

Across the board, sportsbooks have gone to press with a tight betting line, listing both sides on the long side of even money. Zenit
have the slight edge with +150 odds to
win outright but FC Porto are nipping at their heels on +200 odds to win outright at Bet365. Clearly, by refusing to
install Zenit as the firm favourites on the short side of even money they
aren’t putting stock in the result at Estádio do Dragão and, at the same time,
perhaps expecting FC Porto might yet have something to say about it all.

The draw meanwhile is listed at +240, on
larger soccer odds than a victory
for either side because surely both will play to win this game, fully aware a
draw would be a disastrous outcome that would leave too much in the hands of
fate.

FC Porto were dealt multiple setbacks at
home to Zenit, going a man down early before eventually succumbing to a 1-0
defeat in the late stages. Now their
campaign hangs in the balance, they need an away victory badly to get back on
track.

While odds makers aren’t pricing them out
of the market for a positive result in St. Petersburg –at +200 soccer odds they aren’t exactly a long shot pick to win outright –
overall group betting markets have
experienced a marked change with Zenit now priced as the second favourites to
qualify at -150 (down from +300) while FC Porto are tipped at +110 (down from
+180) at Bet365.

Undoubtedly, FC Porto have the quality and
depth to get the better of Zenit and with a strong record on Russian soil from
past competitions to draw inspiration from they deserve the benefit of value odds in the soccer betting markets. That said
Zenit proved they were equal to the task. They too have the quality and depth
to pull off the double against FC Porto. Indeed, Zenit aren’t going to be
pushovers either, not with Hulk mercilessly harassing FC Porto’s backline. Fact
is Zenit is on the verge of potentially opening up a four-point gap in Group G,
an outcome that would be huge for Zenit’s bid and in turn detrimental to FC Porto’s bid for the knockout stages.